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Time Capsule or External HDD
- Thread starter blackbelt
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two cents
Get an external firewire 800 drive before you invest in Time Capsule. If you do not already have wifi then TC makes some sense. But for backup protection I think FW is a better choice and it copies a lot faster.
Get an external firewire 800 drive before you invest in Time Capsule. If you do not already have wifi then TC makes some sense. But for backup protection I think FW is a better choice and it copies a lot faster.
thanks for the input, i think that you are right. So a second question (One More Thing, lol). I would like to buy a Seagate externals drive, primarily because i have read very good reviews, and have had good experiences with them myself. Is it ok that you have to plug in and unplug it every night. will it just back up to TM every time you connect it?
thanks for your help!
Seagate hard drives are good, but I would advice that you avoid buying the current models of FreeAgent Pro because their data transfer speed is lower than competing brands. The touch sensitive button leave much to be desired too. Do a Google seach about all these issues.
The answer is kind of yes; but I force the issue by right mouse on the TM icon on the dock and choosing backup now.
external drives are hit or miss, i have used two pre-built/manufactured externals and have worked OKAY, but not something id generally keep any necessary data on.
So i go with a DIY approach, purchase an external enclosure with FW400/FW800 with a internal SATA connection and pick up trusted and generally cheaper internal drives and there you go!
that way if the external manufactured drive you purcahse goes kaput, well aside from breaking it apart to get the drive out if youre lucky.
atleast with the DIY you can buy as many cheap internal drives as you want, and use them whenever you want, one specifically for time machine? go for it, well you need to clone your OS, remove the TM drive slap in the OS back up bam, after that need to make a specific drive for movies/music/media etc? slap that in, after thats taken care of remove that and slap the ol time machine drive back in and continue where you left off.
hehe
So i go with a DIY approach, purchase an external enclosure with FW400/FW800 with a internal SATA connection and pick up trusted and generally cheaper internal drives and there you go!
that way if the external manufactured drive you purcahse goes kaput, well aside from breaking it apart to get the drive out if youre lucky.
atleast with the DIY you can buy as many cheap internal drives as you want, and use them whenever you want, one specifically for time machine? go for it, well you need to clone your OS, remove the TM drive slap in the OS back up bam, after that need to make a specific drive for movies/music/media etc? slap that in, after thats taken care of remove that and slap the ol time machine drive back in and continue where you left off.
hehe
IF it's for backup, please avoid anything that's RAID 0 as they're not really 'backup drives'.
They use two drives to make up one big one.. and if anything goes wrong, you'll lose both!
LaCie has a few FW800 drives which will backup data at high speed, but their power supplies are a bit weak - they tend to fail. Though they do have some Bus-powered devices which will be fine, since they don't have a separate power module, nothing can go wrong... provided you don't drop the drive itself.
If you end up buying a windows drive (usually pre-formatted to fat32), please remember to reformat it for Mac!!! It'll optimise the performance.
They use two drives to make up one big one.. and if anything goes wrong, you'll lose both!
LaCie has a few FW800 drives which will backup data at high speed, but their power supplies are a bit weak - they tend to fail. Though they do have some Bus-powered devices which will be fine, since they don't have a separate power module, nothing can go wrong... provided you don't drop the drive itself.
If you end up buying a windows drive (usually pre-formatted to fat32), please remember to reformat it for Mac!!! It'll optimise the performance.
I have a 1 Tb and 500 gig LaCie (I think that is how it is spelled). My iMac has a 1 Tb internal but I use the 500 for Time Machine as the internal is near empty. I keep data and my music and movie backups (.Mac Backup 3) on the 1 Tb drive. The Time Capsule is a backup to the 1 Tb external.
My most pleasant surprise on the TC issue is being able to have two wifi connections working, one for N and the Netgear for G.
You might want to visit at anandtech.com for real world external hard drive test data.
I have been working with computers now for 25 years and have learned that having only one backup method is like having none. Good luck.
My most pleasant surprise on the TC issue is being able to have two wifi connections working, one for N and the Netgear for G.
You might want to visit at anandtech.com for real world external hard drive test data.
I have been working with computers now for 25 years and have learned that having only one backup method is like having none. Good luck.
anyone have any experience with Western Digital HDDs. I just brought home a passport (with 30 return) from Best Buy. It looks like it will fit my needs, and does not require an external power source.
What do you think of the HDDs that take power from the computer. (I am at the desk most of the time, and don't have to worry about battery life).
What do you think of the HDDs that take power from the computer. (I am at the desk most of the time, and don't have to worry about battery life).
anyone have any experience with Western Digital HDDs. I just brought home a passport (with 30 return) from Best Buy. It looks like it will fit my needs, and does not require an external power source.
What do you think of the HDDs that take power from the computer. (I am at the desk most of the time, and don't have to worry about battery life).
For home use I prefer powered, but you are you. I have had bad experiences with my Macs and WD drives; but they work fine with my WinXP PC. For my Macs I prefer firewire 800 connections and stay away from USB as it is too SLOW. YMMV.
